As well as the heat, there’s another hurdle for athletes to overcome over the next few weeks – training while fasting

If you’re dedicated to improving at your sport, you’ll know nutrition is a key element to success. But what about during the Holy Month? The good news is, just like training outdoors in summer, you can still fast and, pardon the pun, stay fast.

“It’s important to continue training, but your exercise is going to be different,” warns head nutritionist Katharina Elbracht at UAE company Bespoke Wellness (bespoke-wellness. com). “Some people want to stick to their routine and work out during the day, but without water it’s a lot more likely that you’re going to dehydrate and end up lacking in energy or losing muscle. If you’re fasting, you won’t have the energy to stick to an intense schedule, so the goal should be maintaining muscle mass rather than gaining body fat.”

Abu Dhabi-based athlete Roisin Thomas is a cyclist and trainer who has tried fasting during the Holy Month. “I found it really tough,” she says. “I was working, so I couldn’t sleep in the day like some people who fast. I was taking on clients, training myself and fasting at the same time. The first three days were horrible and the first day of Ramadan, for my suhoor, I drank about two litres of electrolytes, I ate far too much and threw up. I went about it all the wrong way, overhydrated and overate, thinking I was doing myself a favour.”

While Thomas managed to continue training throughout her month of fasting, she says she experienced a loss of muscle mass.

‘I didn’t go hard on my training – I couldn’t – but the muscle loss was a big thing for me,” she explains. “I used to train either at midnight to 1am, or before suhoor in the early hours of the morning. The other time that worked was in the hour leading up to iftar, which was good because I could go into iftar hydrating. If you can be exercising when the sun sets, you can start hydrating and eating once training.”

Thomas recommends a diet that focuses on lean meats, fish and highquality carbs such as sweet potato. “You need to really look at your training, both in terms of distance and expectations. Your body will bounce back, it won’t forget what you did beforehand in just three or four weeks. Just change to a more endurance-based training schedule throughout the month and know that you definitely won’t be pushing as much power.”